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“Sera?”
I scramble over to the bars, my knees dragging over the dirt as my hand grips the iron, and I shove my head through the gaps as far as it’ll go. “Lennox?”
I can only see inside four other cells of the semicircle. Apart from Delaney’s, every other one is empty.
“Look up,” he says. Above Delaney is another row of cells. Iron cuffs are clamped at Lennox’s wrists and throat.
“Are you okay?” I gasp.
“I’m immobile, but unharmed.”
“Who’s that?” Delaney asks.
“A friend.” I think. I fall to my ass with my head resting against the cell bars as I think back to Hynde’s confession. Nix was just using me to figure out if I was the witch who could undo his warden’s curse.
“He was full of shit,” Lennox grumbles. I look up to find him watching me. “Hynde. Nix does like you. I could see how much he was struggling to do what was expected of us when his feelings for you were clearly growing.”
“It was just an illusion.” I chew my lip, confused as to what I should believe. I had started to feel so confident in myself, and now that all feels like it’s back in pieces. “A succubi charm.”
Lennox scoffs. “That was no succubi charm. The only power they can wield is directly passed through their kiss, or some spiked aphrodisiac they slip into a drink to make their partner ravenous for them.”
“It looks like we’re not going anywhere soon,” I say. “How about you tell me the whole truth? Why exactly were you guys in Hemlock?”
Lennox’s shoulders slump forward. “Maybe Nix should—”
“I can’t wait for Nix. I need you to tell me everything now. Please.”
Lennox is still, save for the slow shake of his head. “Catori was cursed to Hell by a witch. Only a direct descendant of her bloodline can remove it and allow Catori to cross to the human realm once more. His seer had a vision that someone was coming to end him and would succeed. We knew only the ancestral bloodline had the power to undo it. Our job was to find the witch and convince her to remove Catori’s curse to help us fight a greater threat, when really that would have been a trick. We just needed to protect Catori. That’s our duty to our warden.”
“None of you ever spoke of this to us.” I never even questioned Nix on his motives, accepting that he was a reformed demon running a record store as he said because every emotion I read off him felt safe.
“We weren’t sure if you were a descendant of the Seven Sisters.”
“Wait, you’re a descendant of the Seven Sisters?” Delaney rises to her knees as she grips the bars of her cell and stares at me.
“Theodora Solomon.” I study her: the tension in her shoulders and the hard set of her jaw. “What were you looking for when you broke into Wild Moon?” I ask.
She pulls up the long-sleeved of her shirt to reveal a tattoo on her forearm just below the crease of her elbow.
“That Catori dude isn’t the only one looking to break a curse.” She pulls her sleeve back down. “I’ve been searching for months. Apparently the only thing strong enough to break this thing is in a certain spell book, one with a septagram seal on the inside page.”
“How did you get it? Who cursed you?”
The clang of a heavy lock turning over echoes through the chamber, interrupting us, followed by scuffling footsteps.
“Sloane!” I cry out as I watch my sister being dragged past me. Her head hangs limp until she’s tossed into a nearby cell.
“Good.” My blood runs cold with the intrusion of an unfamiliar voice, one that crawls over me like a snake slithering across my skin. “You’re awake.”
Out of the shadows, a dark entity approaches. Smoke gathers at his feet, billowing with every step. I’m shocked when I can’t feel any emotion coming off him. Is he dead inside? I would’ve thought rage and greed to be radiating off him, to the point I’d be choking on it, but there’s nothing. I push my powers out, roaming over every being in here. I don’t feel anything at all. Where are my powers?
Neon blue eyes are the only bit of color he possesses, everything else is black. Inside and out.
“I’ve waited a long time for this, Miss Hewitt. A descendant of the fabled Seven Sisters.”
I swallow any trace of fear, rising to my feet as I square my shoulders. “I don’t know about fabled. I believe you know the Seven Sisters quite well, Catori.”
His jaw ticks. I might not be able to tap into my powers right now but I can definitely read his body language: he’s pissed. Good.
